Awards and Achievements

2005: WORD’s BASICS Summer arts and Leadership Camp was selected to receive a Coming Up Taller Award which distinguishes it as one of the top arts and humanities-based programs in the country serving youth beyond school hours.

2005: WORD’s Western Literacy Support Corps was selected in Innovations in Civic Participation, a non-partisan non-profit research and advocacy organization, as one of the nation’s most innovative and effective programs.

2004: WORD was one of only nine applicants out of 270 to be awarded the Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Award administered by WHY (World Hunger Year). Organizations selected for this national award were judged outstanding for their innovative and creative approaches to fighting domestic hunger and poverty by building self-reliance.

1999: Gearing Up was one of only ten programs nationwide to receive a grant from the US Department of Labor for Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations.

1999: WORD’s HUD certified Housing Counseling Program was selected for a HUD Best Practices Award for innovative housing counseling services. School-based family support workers were trained to provide services to over 200 families with housing problems.